French Ambassador to South Africa, Elisabeth Barbier has denied claims that France has stopped issuing Schengen visas in order to replace them with a French National visa. Barbier, speaking at a press conference at the French Embassy in Pretoria, following the deadly weeakend attacks that claim 129 lives and left more than 350 people injured over the weekend, said the Schengen visa information “is false and totally unfounded”. “The Embassy of France to the Republic of South Africa and French Consulates in Johannesburg and Cape Town categorically deny this. Holders of valid Schengen visas can still enter France,” Barbier said. The embassy did however warned that the inconveniences which visitors travelling to France may face are the reinforced controls at the borders implemented for security reasons.